JJ's POV:

Thanksgiving was coming up and John B and Pope both wanted to see me. I missed them like crazy so I agreed to come back to OBX for Thanksgiving.

To be honest, I only came back because I knew that Kie was going to be home and I wanted to try to talk to her.

I didn't travel so much anymore. I've been staying in Belize on the beach for the past four months. I've been so bored that I got a fucking job which is pathetic considering that I have enough money to buy the country.

I arrived at the chateau and John B and Pope updated me on their lives and I did the same. Except I lied. I told them about all the adventures. I just told them I was alone. I didn't want them to know about Kie.

For Thanksgiving, Pope's parents invited me and John B over and I declined. I spent the day thinking back to last year with Kie. I also downed a few too many bottles of beer and smoked some weed. Now that is some good shit to be thankful for.

The next night, we went to a party and I looked up and there she was. She looked beautiful but she was with a bunch of kooks. One guy seemed into her and I wanted to punch him in the face. I held back.

I didn't even look at her. Damn, it killed me not to look at her because she looked stunning and I missed her. I kept an eye on her all night and it payed off because fucking Rafe showed up and he was trying to drag Kie out.

My protective side kicked in and I yanked Rafe away from her and got in a fight with him. I saw Kie run to Sarah crying. Hopefully she was able to tell her everything so Rafe had no power over her.

I snuck away to clean up and then Kie came and found me. We started talking and I just got so pissed that I said things I would regret. Oh well, she's with Cody now.

I went back to the chateau to smoke some weed and later that night John B and Pope walked in.

"Dude, you look like shit" John B said sitting on the couch next to me

"I feel like shit" I replied dryly

"Why are you so sad? We're millionaires, let's fucking go!!!!" Pope said which wasn't like him. He must have had a few drinks

"I fucked up pretty bad this time" I said

"What did you do?"

"I met Kiara Carrera in Spain randomly and we traveled the world together for ten months just as friends. Well, one night we had sex and..." I continued the story and they were both so engaged in the story

"You really did screw things up"

"What are you going to do?" Pope asked

"I don't know... I think I'm going to go travel and try and clear my head" I replied

I went to bed early that night and the next day, John B drove me to the airport.  I bought a plane ticket to California. I knew Kie would be on this flight. I went to the lady at the front desk and I paid extra to have her bumped to first class and I bought the seat next to her.

I purposely left and showed back up right before they closed the doors. I put my bag in the overhead bin and I sat down next to Kie. She looked at me and said, "I should have known... Getting bumped up to first class seemed too good to be true"

"You know most people would say thank you"

"Shut up, when we get in the air I'm going to offer this seat to someone else."

"Fine, I'll do the same thing to the next person sitting next to you" I threatened her

She put her airpods in her ears and leaned her head on the window. I left her alone for a bit and we took off. I then took her airpod out of her ear and she gave me a death glare.

"Please, talk to me. Yell at me, I don't care. Anything is better than this silence"

"There's nothing to talk about" She said looking away from me

"You could tell me how your Thanksgiving was, your favorite childhood memory, or you could listen to me explain what happened with Ashley"

"No, immediately no. We are not talking about that bitch!"

"Okay, so how was your Thanksgiving?" I asked

She rolled her eyes and said, "I'm not talking about that either"

"I miss you, I miss traveling with you. I was in Belize for four months doing nothing. I got a fucking job I was so bored without you"

"Gotta pay for all this traveling somehow" She replied back and little did she know, money was not an issue for me

"Please, come travel the world with me again" I said looking into her eyes

"I can't, JJ... I have to go to school now. My parents gave me one gap year"

"Screw your parents, this is your life"

Kie didn't say anything for the rest of the flight. I didn't bother her anymore. We landed and I said, "Good luck in school, let me know if you change your mind"

I got off the plane and went to buy a plane ticket to Hawaii. That went worse than I expected. I left to Hawaii and I spent the next month traveling the islands.

Christmas was coming up. You know, the holiday most spent with their family. I don't have any family. I facetimed with John B and Pope abs they invited me to the chateau for Christmas and I said no.

I didn't want to go back home again. I would only go home for her, but she has made it clear she doesn't want me. She's been hanging out with Cody a lot.

I booked a flight to Yucatán to try and find my dad. Maybe he was sober. Maybe he was clean. Maybe he was finally ready to be the father I never had.

I got on the plane to Mexico and I fell asleep dreaming about seeing my dad again.

Will he be happy to see me? Does he have a new family? Did he miss me? Was he even alive? Where the hell would I look for him?

My plane landed and I went to the area he always talked about and I started asking around. So far no one knew who I was talking about. This seemed impossible.

I decided to head to the local liquor stores as he's usually a regular there and ask around. After a few days of this, I finally found him.

"Dad" I said and he turned around

"My boy, JJ!" He said

"Hey" I said and my dad pulled me into a hug

"Carly, this is my boy, JJ!" My dad said introducing me to the woman

We talked for a bit and she was his girlfriend. They invited me to stay with them and I declined the offer. I said I already had a place but they didn't take no for an answer.

I went to their place and it was clean. That was something I didn't expect. I grew up in a shitty shack with trash all over. Maybe my dad really has changed.

He was great and so was Carly. I spent three days with them and I was actually really enjoying it. Tonight was Christmas Eve and my phone started blowing up.

I had blocked Kie after our talk on the plane. I was really focusing on trying to get over her. However, I saw my instagram was blowing up.

I had a ton of new followers and I got tagged in a post from Kie. I clicked on the post and there were ten pictures with us. The first one was us in the snow in Finland. The caption read: When people asked what I wanted for Christmas this year, I didn't have an answer because what I want can't be bought. I want to go back to the best ten months of my life traveling the world with @ JJMaybank ✈️🌎💕

I was almost crying! I was so shocked by this post. Kie must have forgiven me. At least I hoped she had. She has over 20,000 instagram followers. I couldn't believe this. I unblocked her and I went to text her.

However, my dad came in my room and he was drunk. Carly was with him and he said, "Where my effin money?"

"What money?"

"I raised you! You owe me for all the hell you put me through"

And that was that. My dad and I got into a fight. The thing that sucked was Carly joined in and teamed up with my dad. They tried going through my shit but I grabbed my bag and sprinted away. I was in so much pain. I just ran until I couldn't anymore.

I collapsed on the beach and I called Kie.

"Hey" She said picking up on the first ring